." >>> when pope benedict steps down thursday he'll take on a new title, benedict will be caused emeritus pope and will continue to wear white. 115 cardinals are expected to vote for his successor, but britain's highest ranking catholic leader will not be taking part. in one of his final acts the pope changed the rules of their meeting, allen pizzey is in vatican city. allen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, charlie. how soon will the conclave begin? by both law and tradition the cardinals can't talk openly about it until one day after ben fikt officially leaves office. the cardinals want to get on with the job of choosing a new pope as soon as possible. major issue plaguing them will be the sex abuse scandals but they must be dealt with in the view of u.s. cardinal james staff ford stafford who is too old to vote in the conclave. >> if it means to be despised which in many ways it does mean when they accept that. >> reporter: you also have to overcome that to get people back into the church rebuild image. >> we rebuild the image by accepting the reality we're living in and not be